U.S. Says Legal Marijuana Growers Can’t Use Federal Irrigation Water

Marijuana growers operating legally in Colorado and Washington state took another hit from the federal government on Tuesday when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that pot growers are (still) not allowed to use federal irrigation waters.

Since 1902, the bureau has been charged with maintaining dams, power plants and canals in the 17 “western states” — from North Dakota, Nebraska and Texas to Washington, Oregon and California.

As such, the agency also provides irrigation for millions of acres of agriculture in Washington and Colorado, the two states that recently made recreational marijuana legal for adults.

AP

Mike Corral cuts branches from a marijuana plant as he prepares a harvest in Davenport, Calif.

But the bureau wants weed growers to know that, at least at the federal level, the times they aren’t a-changing.

So, on Tuesday it reclarified a law that has been in place for decades.